Hi there. Today I am looking at this interesting sauce from Half Moon Bay Trading Company. The label notes that it is “Medium Hot and a Bit Sweet.” This is to be expected when you notice that the name Bee Sting refers to more than the maker but also the presence of honey in the sauce. This sauce is orange in color, unlike the more familiar Sriracha sauce that seems ever present in Asian restaurants and markets. Additionally, this sauce uses habanero and cayenne peppers rather than jalapenos. The ingredient list also includes honey (4%), cane sugar, garlic powder, beet powder, salt, citric acid, xanthan gum and vinegar. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of honey and the presence of beet powder. This sauce is not as thick as the “rooster” sauce either, which is a positive as Bee Sting is easier to blend with other ingredients.

This sauce has sweet overtones from the honey when you first taste it. The heat comes after a three second beat. The makers are honest about this being a medium heat. The sweetness of the honey mellows out the heat of the habanero and cayenne peppers. Those peppers give this sauce a different flavor and heat than the mass-produced Sriracha. The habanero peppers give a longer lasting heat and the cayenne peppers give sharp initial heat.

I find this sauce to be better than the ‘traditional’ mass-produced Sriracha sauce. The label for Bee Sting says that the name of the town in Thailand is correctly written Si Racha. I checked and this is actually the official government translation from the Thai characters into the Roman alphabet.

This sauce can be used any way you would use any Sriracha sauce. I would recommend it on any kind of Asian food or in the recipe below. The original recipe for Cranberry Ginger Salmon calls for ¼ cup of honey which I have to use when the long suffering Cheryl is going to be eating. I think that this sauce would work very well as a substitute. Below I have used half of the measure as Bee Sting and half honey. Maybe I will try it next time and see what my lovely wife thinks. (I have a sneaking suspicion that I already know.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. 2. In a medium bowl blend ginger, Bee Sting, garlic, soy sauce, pepper and cranberry sauce. Mix until well blended.3. Coat a shallow baking pan with vegetable oil spray and place the salmon in pan.4. Spoon cranberry mixture evenly over the salmon.5. Bake 15 minutes for fillets (25 minutes for steaks.) The salmon is done when it flakes easily with a fork.

I recommend serving over rice with a side of steamed vegetables, such as peas or summer squash.